Brothers, Beaches, and Babes (Treasure Hunting Optional)
by nicnac918
Summary: On the swing set, a different conversation


"Ah well, if the college board isn't impressed with my experiment tomorrow then, okay I'll do the treasure hunting."

"And if they are?"

"Well then," Ford said, giving Stan a friendly punch in the shoulder. "I guess we'll be moving to the other side of the country."

"We?" Stan echoed, sounding confused, which in turn made Ford confused.

"Yes, we. Aren't you coming with me?" Ford couldn't deny that he had been wanting some space from his brother lately, a chance to make his own identity as just Ford, not Stan-and-Ford, and West Coast Tech seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it, but 2700 miles was a lot more space than he wanted. Just the thought of only seeing Stan over the summer and on holidays – except Ford would probably want to stay at school in the summer, and him being able to make it home for the holidays was contingent on Dad being willing to pay for a plane ticket home for Ford – was suffocating in its own way, less like being smothered and more like trying to breathe in a vacuum.

"I'm not smart enough to get into your nerd school, even if I wanted to. Which I don't. Because it's for nerds."

"I know that. I mean, I'm pretty sure you're smarter than you think you are." Pretty sure because honestly, Ford was so far above everyone else in school intelligence-wise, it was sometimes hard for him to tell the difference between normal person smart and average, and between average and stupid. And Stan didn't make it any easier to distinguish, since Ford couldn't always tell what Stan didn't know because of laziness-induced ignorance and what was due to a true inability to understand the material – the latter of which Ford would actually consider as being caused by stupidity, the former just being apathy. "But even I might not get into West Coast Tech, so I certainly wouldn't expect you to."

"Then how am I supposed to come with you?" Stan objected.

"Stanley, West Coast Tech is in Pasadena, not an isolated island in the Pacific. There are other colleges nearby, as well as community colleges and trade schools, or you could just get a job if that's what you want. Unless you'd rather stay in New Jersey," Ford said, the idea occurring to him for the first time. New Jersey just seemed so small to him, and he'd do anything to get out, but maybe Stan didn't feel the same way.

"Did you seriously just ask me if I'd rather stay by myself in Jersey, or go to California with you? They've got all kinds of beaches in California! And babes, you know how many babes there are out there?"

"Well, since West Coast Tech is about half an hour from Hollywood, I'm guessing a lot?"

"I thought you said this place was in Pasadena?" Stan said.

"Yes, and Pasadena shares a border with Los Angeles," Ford explained.

"Well, what the heck are we still doing here?" Stan exclaimed, and Ford couldn't help but laugh at his brother's exuberance.

"We still have to graduate high school first," Ford reminded him. "And we also still don't know if I'm even going to get into West Coast Tech."

"Of course you will!" Stan said easily, and Ford felt most of his nerves about the situation abate. It didn't matter what anyone else thought, if Stan said Ford could do something, then he could. "My brother is a genius; they'd have to be a bunch of idiots to not want you. And even if your nerd school does have a bunch of idiots on the committee tomorrow, like you said, there are other schools in California. Maybe there aren't any as good as West Coast Tech, or whatever, but there's got to be some that aren't too bad. Like the one with the same name as you, that's in California, right?"

"Well, yes, though it's up near San Francisco. But down in LA there's UCLA and USC, which are both fairly good. And I could always try and transfer to West Coast Tech after I get my undergraduate degree," Ford said. Stan was right, Ford had been so focused on how much he wanted this one particular school – which he still really wanted, a lot – that he had forgotten he had options. It wasn't as though he had to get into West Coast Tech or be stuck with Backsupmore. And there were a lot of people who went to a different school for doctoral work than their undergraduate degree, so even if he didn't get into West Coast Tech tomorrow, there was still hope for the future.

Then something else occurred to Ford. "But Stanley, I thought if West Coast Tech didn't work out, you wanted us to go treasure hunting." True, Ford had mostly said that to make Stan feel better rather than because he actually meant it, but he had thought that Stan thought he meant it.

"Pah," Stan said, waving a dismissive hand. "I'll have my brother, beaches, and babes; who even needs treasure? I don't. I don't even really need beaches. I do need babes though, Stanford. The babes are non-negotiable."

Ford smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"And hey, maybe this summer we can take the Stan O' War out and sail her to California. We can go treasure hunting on the way, and we'll have her around so treasure hunting can always be the back-up plan."

Honestly, Ford would have to get pretty far down his list of back-ups before he considered treasure hunting a viable life plan, but the idea of going on a sailing voyage with his brother before diving headlong into the world of academia at West Coast Tech, or wherever he ended up? "That could be fun. Though," Ford looked over at the Stan O' War which, despite years of work put into her by the two of them, could still be charitably described as rickety, "we are going to have to do some extensive testing to make sure she's really sea-worthy first."

"You worry too much, Sixer," Stan said, reaching over to scruff his hand along the back of Ford's head. "You'll see, everything is going to be great."


End file.
